2.7 Assessment

Candidates model and facilitate the effective use of diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments to measure student learning and technology literacy, including the use of digital assessment tools and resources. (PSC 2.7/ISTE 2g)

Reflection:The Data Inventory was created for my ITEC 7305 Data Analysis and School Improvement course taken fall semester 2014. The purpose of this inventory was to provide a summary of all the types of data available in my school. To create this document, I considered the different ways my school collects data, when it is collected, and how it is stored. In the Data Inventory, I also summarize how data is currently used, and I offer suggestions for ways it could be used more effectively. Additionally, the document includes other student-level data my school collects as well as data I would like to see my school begin collecting.In this inventory, I identified the diagnostic tests given at my school, including the Wide Range Achievement Test and informal phonics assessments; formative assessments, including the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests, unit tests, a writing portfolio, and DIBELS; and summative assessments. I also identified additional data that is collected, much of which pertains to the unique transient nature of my school. This data includes how many years students attend, which schools they attend after leaving, and in which school districts they live. As a teacher, I model the effective use of many of these assessments to measure student learning. For example, our summative assessment is the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS), given towards the end of the school year. The school uses an online data manager to house our summative assessment data from the ITBS. This year I received training from Riverside Publishing in how to use this digital tool to drill down into the data. It is a powerful tool that allows users to look at specific classes, students, and test domains. In addition, scores can be reported in various ways, such as national percentile rank, private percentile rank, grade equivalent, and normal curve equivalent. I was able to share this information with other teachers at my school and help them facilitate the use of the website to analyze data.To facilitate more effective use of these diagnostic, formative, and summative assessment tools, I spoke with the Associate Head of School about our data sources and how we could use technology to more closely examine the data we are collecting. For example, software such as Excel could be used to store information about student performance on unit tests. Grade level data teams could analyze this information and use it to assist with lesson planning. In addition, I made recommendations about data I would like to see the school collect. One area where I feel my school could make improvements in its data collection is the use of digital assessment tools to measure student learning and technology literacy. A few teachers are utilizing digital resources, such as Socrative and Quizlet, to assess student learning, but this is not widespread and more formal digital assessments are not in place. In addition, using digital tools to assess students’ technology literacy would greatly benefit our school. Students come to The Schenck School from several different districts and public as well as private institutions where they have not all received the same instruction in technology. Furthermore, many instructional technology tools can also be used for assistive technology, which would greatly benefit our student population. For example, the spellcheck feature common in many word processing programs is essential for students with dyslexia. The school could benefit from assessing students’ technology literacy skills in order to inform instruction, determine which students need additional support with technology tools, and choose appropriate assistive technology. This artifact helped me realize how much data my school collects. Having every assessment listed in one place helps facilitate the creation of data teams to examine those sources. It also allowed me to see places where digital resources could be used to further organize and analyze the data. If I were to complete another data inventory, I would like to consult with administration and faculty to identify other assessment data they feel would be beneficial to the school and improve instruction. The contributions of others could be valuable in identifying additional meaningful sources of data.The work that went into this artifact impacted school improvement since I spoke with the Associate Head of School about it. The creation of school data teams is a possibility for next year. Identifying all the sources of data at my school will help in assembling data teams to analyze and set goals for students based on the data. This information will be used to improve instruction and increase student achievement, which is one goal of the strategic plan. The impact of this can be assessed by observations in the classroom of changes in instruction and discussions among team members about data and student goals.